The BioWare Social Network now offers downloads of a PC-only beta version 1.01 patch for Dragon Age II, the just-released role-playing sequel. The patch fixes save game issues on single-core machines, the game asking for non-existent drives, release control issues where some players were unable to unlock correctly, and a Steam-specific issue related to VO not playing after switching languages. That last fix is a pretty odd one to include in this beta patch, since there's a footnote saying: "Steam does not support BETA patches. Steam users will have to wait for the final non-BETA patch before they can take advantage of these fixes. We're working on it but, unfortunately, this will not occur in time for the weekend." There is also a typical warning that users are applying a beta patch at their own risk. The patch is mirrored on Gamer's Hell and Strategy Informer.

Those I mentioned work in DX9. DA2 suddenly looks almost exactly the same on consoles as the PC DX9 version even though dozens of other DX9 games (incl. Bioware games) always looked better on the PC?

Color me confused. Yes, PC versions of multiplatform games almost always look and perform better on PC. This is because the PC versions offer higher resolutions, higher AA, higher AF and higher framerates. However, the actual assets are exactly the same between console and PC 99% of the time. DA2 is actually pretty unique in that it offers a whole bunch of unique visual features for the PC version, in addition to the usual benefits. What was the last port that offered hi-res textures? Or new lighting effects? Or tesselation? When you play DA2 at the highest detail settings, it looks very clearly better than the console versions. They also redesigned the UI for the PC version, something you almost never see in ports these days. Make no mistake, X360 was the lead platform for DA2 but Bioware did put a decent amount of effort into the PC port. More effort than most ports get.